Inconsistencies found after patient's death at Hillsborough Hospital

An internal review by the P.E.I. Department of Health in the months after Catherine Gillis died found inconsistencies in the way her health records were recorded and shared among staff at the Hillsborough Hospital,CBCNews has learned.

Gillis was 69 when she took her own life on Feb. 14, 2010, while she was a patient at the hospital.

Because she was an involuntary patient, the government is required under the Coroner's Actto hold an inquest into her death.

The government announcedFridaythe inquest will take placeApril 9-10, 2018.

• How suicide inquest, required under P.E.I. law, fell through the cracks

Through a freedom of information request,CBCNews obtained a redacted copy of a risk management report about Gillis' death from the Department of Health dated May 4, 2010.

Besides the inconsistencies withinGillis' health records, the report found that whenGilliswas transferred between units ofHillsboroughHospital onFeb. 1, 2010, information about her observation level was not included in her transfer order.

An assessment by nursing staff on Feb. 10 had placedGillisunder 15-minute checks.

Security cameras recommended

The report also noted there was confusion for staff trying to deal with Gillis'death, owing in part to the fact that a new security guard working at the front entrance was not familiar with the location of the unit where she died.

As a possible remedy, the report recommended security cameras be placed in hallways at a cost of $150,000 and under the heading of "anticipated completion date," said "may not be able to accomplish this recommendation."

The closed circuit monitoring system was eventually installed as part of capital upgrades at Hillsborough Hospital, which the government announced in 2016.

If we don't do what we are bound by law to do, how can we say that we are doing everything within our power to provide the best care possible for our most vulnerable citizens? Sophia Ball

Sophia Ball has been calling on government to hold an inquest to examine the circumstances around Gillis' death. Ball's mother Sherry took her life while she was a patient atHillsboroughin 2013. The inquest into that suicide in 2016 led to more than a dozen recommendations for changes.

"It's important that we follow due process so that we can examine what happened in the hopes that we can avoid preventable deaths in the future,"she toldCBCNews after the dates for theGillisinquest were announced Friday

"If we don't do what we are bound by law to do, how can we say that we are doing everything within our power to provide the best care possible for our most vulnerable citizens?"

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